Glass, £14 4^ 



] 



i 



4 AN ADDRESS 

FROM THE 

Contention of ammran 2Momen, 

TO THE 

SOCIETY OF FRIENDS, 



SUBJECT OF SLAVERY. 



PHILADELPHIA : PRINTED. 
RE-PRINTED BY JOHN WRIGHT, BRISTOL. 

1840. 



L- ft i 



PREFACE 

TO THE ENGLISH REPRINT. 



Those who have travelled much in the United States of North 
America; and those particularly who have become acquainted 
with the Society of Friends there, cannot fail to have observed 
the prevalent indifference of that body to the cause of "Abolition ; " 
and the exceedingly timid manner in which, in some instances, 
that Cause is approached; whilst that in other instances, con- 
spicuous Abolitionists are spoken of in terms of disapprobation 
equally strong with those used towards Slaveholders. And if the 
Traveller has been brought into confidential intercourse with the 
few Friends in America who are avowed Abolitionists, he must 
often have heard a cry like "Come over and help us," addressed 
to their brethren and sisters 1n England, who have for so many 
years contended for the same object, and who have the consolation 
of believing that a blessing rests on their labours. 

As a way of seconding that cry, this little work is reprinted 
and circulated amongst Friends in England, in the hope that 
their cheering and sustaining voice will, in some way or other, 
be effectually conveyed to the faithful but wearied advocates of 
the oppressed; who are now labouring in the United States, under 
complicated and great discouragements. J . M. 



Millbrook, near Southampton, 
3rd Month 30th, 1840. 



ADDRESS. 



Christian Friends, — In the spirit of unaffected kindness and 
respect, we now utter a few of our thoughts for your serious con- 
sideration. You are well aware what a change has passed over 
public sentiment with regard to your Society, since the days of 
George Fox. That great champion of spiritual freedom says, 
" Prisons have been made my home, a great part of my time, and 
I have been in danger of my life, and in jeopardy daily." 
Gerard Croese, in his History of the Quakers, informs us that 
" All the rest of the world abhorred them and all their actions. 
Nay, inveighed against them with the most reviling expressions, 
spreading this report, that they were the veriest rogues of all men 
alive." But now the flattering change in popular opinion is em- 
bodied in a universal proverb ; for the man who is uncommonly 
honest, and pre-eminently just, is said to give " Quaker measure." 

Of the concealed dangers and insidious temptations that arise 
when "all men speak well of you," it is needless to remind you j 
for the reflecting observer must be painfully aware of their exist- 
ence and their power. But we doubt whether you are equally 
aware of the general scrutiny to which your opinions and practice 
are now subjected. Men, in their present keen search after truth, 
are everywhere struck with the obvious fact that the early Friends 
were very far in advance of their age, in most of the great princi- 
ples of love, truth, and freedom. Among all sects, doubts are now 
arising whether war, under any circumstances, is not a violation 
of Gospel precepts; and the History of the Quakers is earnestly 



4 



ADDRESS. 



examined for instruction and encouragement. Those who perceive 
how the immortal spirit of Woman is fettered by unjust laws, and 
repressed by social usages, are carefully comparing the women 
of your Society with those of other denominations. The enemies 
of Slate ry quote your early testimony as an example to other 
churches. The sincere friends of Equality, struck with the 
Christian democracy of your principles, and the simplicity of your 
practice, eagerly inquire, " Does their love embrace the whole 
human race? Do they eat and drink with each other, without 
regard to rank or complexion! Is there no distinction in their 
meeting-houses? Or is there, as elsewhere, a corner provided 
for a despised class ? " The conscientious clergyman earnestly 
asks whether the unpaid ministry of the Friends is more free and 
bold in the advocacy of unpopular truths, than the paid ministry 
of other sects ? 

Where is the light, toward which so many eyes are anxiously 
turning? Alas! it is burning dimly, like surrounding lights — 
half extinguished by the stifling vapour of the world ! 

To the believers in human progress — to the earnest friends of 
the whole brotherhood of man, — the Society of Friends are mainly 
interesting and instructive for what they have been. It has been 
eloquently said that " Truth can never die. If the form it once 
animated becomes dead, it has, like the soul of man, a glorious 
resurrection." Therefore, not in vain did George Fox so bravely 
struggle to throw from him the bondage of a selfish world and a 
formal church. Not in vain did the serene example of William 
Penn shine forth, like a mild and solitary star, amid the dark 
storms of violence and hatred. The truths they embodied in word 
and deed have become an everlasting portion of man's spiritual 
wealth. If smothered by cowardice, or worldly wisdom, in one 
breast, they take refuge in another; and because no sect is found 
to represent them, they are re-appearing in new forms among 
individuals of all sects. 



ADDRESS. 



5 



Why is it that these living examples are not abundantly more 
numerous among the professed followers of Penn, than among 
other denominations f Why was it that thousands upon thousands 
felt the power of your early testimony ; and gentry, and nobles, 
yea, even princes, reverently yielded to its influence ? And why 
is it that such fruits are not found as the result of your labour ? 

It is because such a thing as hereditary religion cannot be. 
The spiritual nobility, that builds itself upon a deceased ancestry, 
cannot have life in it. If we would reign with Jesus, we must 
ourselves follow him through the crucifixion. We must ourselves 
live in continual opposition to the spirit and maxims of a selfish 
world. The early Friends did this; therefore they were reviled 
and persecuted; and because they were thus lifted above the 
world, they had power to draw men unto them. 

There was a time when, in most European languages, it was 
deemed an insult to say thou to a superior, or even to an equal in 
rank ; and the use of that simple word involved inconvenience 
and danger, because it became, for the time, the representative 
of the great principle of human equality. But that interpretation 
has long since passed away from the English language, and you 
incur neither hazard nor disgrace by retaining this form of speech. 
Neither are you now in danger of being sent to prison for wearing 
a hat in presence of Duke or Governor. Indeed, the constancy 
and passive courage of early Friends so far remoulded govern- 
ments and society, that all their peculiar practices may now be 
followed without perilling life or liberty, and almost without in- 
curring reproach. 

As society moves onward in its slow progress toward perfection, 
the same principles must be continually applied to new forms of 
opposition. The Cross will always be in our path; and whosoever 
takes it up humbly and earnestly, and bears it bravely in the face 
of a scoffing world, will find that it never loses its wonderfully 
life-giving power. The seventeenth century had crosses peculiarly 



6 



ADDRESS. 



its own; and they who bore them wear the crown. The nineteenth 
calls for similar strong and enduring spirits to bear its appropriate 
burdens ; and now, as then, " No Cross no Crown." If Christians 
would regenerate their own age, they must rigorously oppose the 
peculiar errors and vices, the passions and the prejudices of that 
age. 

Seriously and affectionately, we would appeal to your own 
consciences, whether the Friends, as a Society, are now faithfully 
performing this duty. While the Lord is evidently doing a great 
work in the world, and portions of all nations and sects are zeal- 
ously labouring to "prepare for him a highway in the desert," 
the voice of your Society is heard exclaiming, " Israel shall dwell 
alone! " " Mingle not with the excitements of the world ! M 

Why so much afraid of excitements? Shall we hesitate to follow 
Jesus, because he has told us that he came "not to send peace 
upon earth, but a sword?" Geouge Fox never shunned declar- 
ing the whole counsel of God, because it produced excitement. 
Scarcely Paul himself occasioned a greater uproar, or was more 
loudly accused of turning the world upside down. And if some 
women, now engaged in the cause of the oppressed, are called 
" shameless disturbers of the peace," let it not be forgotten that 
Mary Dyer was persecuted, even unto death, upon the same 
charge. 

We are well aware that the early opinions of your Society, with 
regard to slavery, have never been retracted ; nOr are we unmind- 
ful of your numerous acts of benevolence toward the coloured 
race. These claims upon our respect are most cordially acknow- 
ledged. But, with that plainness of speech which you so much 
approve, allow us to ask what your Society is doing in the present 
tremendous struggle between justice and oppression, humanity 
and violence I Do you mostly expend your energies in reproving 
those who uphold a wicked system, or those who with honest zeal 
are striving to overthrow it ? Do you encourage and sustain those 



ADDRESS. 



7 



of your own members who feel called to this arduous work ? Or do 
you multiply obstacles in their path, thus inducing them to labour 
with other sects, or violate their own consciences ? Is the pride 
of caste less strong in you than in others % It is true you are not 
slaveholders, and continue to believe no Christian should be im- 
plicated in a system so unrighteous. That work your fathers did 
for you long ago. But what are you doing to prove your hearty 
abhorrence of slavery ? We should all agree what to think of a 
man, who, in the time of your early persecutions, claimed to be 
called a Friend, because he believed oaths and war were sinful, 
yet preferred, for the sake of quiet, to remain silent concerning 
those evils, or to employ himself in pointing out the errors and 
imperfections of those who were bearing an honest testimony 
against them. 

You have sometimes urged that you could not unite with aboli- 
tionists, because you deemed them rash and intolerant. Among 
the great variety of temperaments and characters engaged in the 
anti-slavery cause, there must unavoidably be some foundation 
for a charge like this; though candid minds, in view of the diffi- 
culties by which these reformers are surrounded, will marvel that 
their mistakes have been so few, and their errors so unimportant. 
But admitting the accusation to be true to a very great extent, we 
do not see how this can absolve you from working earnestly 
in some way, of your own choosing. If they are harsh and 
headstrong, so much the more need of your mild and peaceful 
spirit. 

The fiat of the Almighty has gone forth that slavery shall ceas* 
to pollute the earth. The giant task must be accomplished ; 
though the " wise and the prudent " of this world will, to the 
last, avoid all participation in it. 

Be not sleeping in your tents in an hour like this ! By the pure 
light of your early testimony — for the sake of your own vitality 
and influence as a society — in the name of the suffering and de 



8 



ADDRESS. 



graded slave, and of the deluded and corrupted master — we 
beseech you come up to this work with earnest hearts, and 
help us to do it wisely and speedily. 

In behalf of the Anti-Slavery Convention of American Women, 
assembled in Philadelphia. 



SARAH LEWIS, President. 



Martha V. Ball, 
Sarah G. Buffum. 
Anna M. Hopper, 
Mary Grew, 




Secretaries. 



John Wright, Printer, Avon-Street, Great Gardens, Bristol. 



! 



! 



